In recent years a large range of storage apparatus has been developed for specialised stowage in off-road vehicles. Such storage apparatus includes elevating storage apparatus for articles, such as top loading insulated food containers and refrigerators, which need to be elevated from their accessible position and then moved inward for stowage in or on an elevated part of the vehicle. Such elevating storage apparatus enable stowed articles to be withdrawn from their elevated stowed position to a withdrawn elevated position from which they may be controllably lowered to an accessible position supported by the elevating storage apparatus at an accessible height below and outward of their stowed position.
My earlier Australian patent No. 2009245888 illustrates one such elevating storage apparatus in which an article supporting base is attached to opposed supporting slides by linkages and an associated lever means provided to control the lowering and raising of the supporting base. This has proven commercially successful. However it has the feature that raising the supporting base from its accessible position is accompanied by an inward movement of the supporting base. While this provides greater clearance from an obstacle positioned below the stowed position it does require the use of robust drawer slides able to support the withdrawn supporting base rigidly in its accessible position which may be further from the vehicle support than is sometimes desired.
Attempts have been made to provide alternative elevated storage apparatus, such as is described in Australian Innovation patent No. 201310028, however such attempts have been overly complex, relatively heavy and thus expensive to manufacture and/or relatively inconvenient or inefficient to use.
As many of the vehicles utilising such elevating storage apparatus are fully enclosed vehicles with space restrictions, the provision of safe, simple and suitable lever means which is readily accessible to be utilised to withdraw the stowed article and then to lower the article to an accessible position in an easy controlled movement and vice versa and be positioned when not in use in an unobtrusive position presents a difficult problem to solve elegantly, simply and robustly.